I have found that some of the same trials have repeated themselves in my life, and I understand why. I always believed God would take care of me. I would say it with my mouth: "God is going to work this out." But what did I entertain while I was waiting? Did I entertain fear? Did I entertain scarcity? Did I entertain blame? Did I entertain the opinions of others more than the voice of God? Many of us have faith in God's outcome, but we entertain the wrong thoughts during the process. We might even try to find the answer and fix the trial ourselves (control). We believe God with our words while allowing our minds to be shaped by everything that contradicts Him. James tells us that the testing of our faith produces perseverance so that we may become mature and complete. A trial is not simply something to survive or "bounce back from." It is something God uses to form us and reveal Himself. If I fail to learn what He is teaching me, I should not be surprised when the lesson comes around again. The world applauds resilience because we "bounce back." But biblical resilience is much deeper. It is not simply recovering after pressure. It is remaining faithful while under pressure. It is refusing to let the pressure shape my thinking more than God's truth. And we need more of God's word in us in order to focus more on it than the trial. Job is the picture of that kind of resilience. What moves me most when I read Job is God's response in Job 38. 🤯 Job lamented. He questioned. He even wished he had never been born. Those were honest human emotions. But he took every question, every pain, and every disappointment back to the One who alone had the answers. His friends, however, interpreted the trial through human reasoning. They searched for someone to blame. Their theology could not imagine suffering without personal guilt. I even experienced this same thing with something that is happening in my life right now. I asked "I must've done something wrong for this to be happening."

When I started reading Psalm 35:23, I did not see where this scripture could be applied to this lesson. David is actively seeking God, seeking justice through God, rather than taking revenge because he sees he's been wrongly accused, being talked about, not being reverenced or respected even after he's been praying and fasting and fighting for these same people. But it gave me a chance to read the entire chapter and here is my takeaway: We have a lot going on in our lives. And it's not always good. So we must press forward, as David did, in pursuit of our calling, He didn't allow himself to become idle. He didn't allow himself to remove the vision God gave him while he was going through the undesirable parts of life. He continued to take action. We must actively take responsibility to do our part in this life. We must actively pray, worship, move forward. If we allowed our dreams, goals or vision to become stagnant, we won't walk forward. So how do we expect God to move? We must actively participate in what God is doing. God has already given us what we need to fulfill his purpose and to live a life of godliness 1 Peter 1:3, but we must remain active in pursuit of righteousness, otherwise we become idle and so will our dreams and visions.

I made a commitment to reprogram my subconscious mind and in order to do so, the work must be intentional, consistent and repetitive enough to replace what has been living there. I started the 30-Day devotional module to partner up with the Ruby circle mentorship and daily bible study. I realize not too many of us members are on here however, I am thankful to @Angela Aja for putting this together. My biggest takeaway of lesson #1 is that what was torn down can be rebuilt but we must have the mind to implement even if the total vision isn't clear. We know what was torn down and we know what needs to be built up. But if we don't tear down and replace what is living in our subconscious, what we build again will fall again. The right foundation must be built first.

To those who are deciding to celebrate today, I wish you a happy holiday. Enjoy today and the life that God has given you. I have made the decision to get in this community more. Angela is a powerful vessel in my life and I am grateful for the direction and leadership. With life challenging us one way or another, we must make time or our community to grow. I look forward to seeing more of you as time moves forward. Stay grounded, stay aligned, stay focused and stay safe

Where are you over-carrying what God never assigned you to hold this week? Before you answer emails, solve problems, or rescue everyone…pause and ask: 1. 1. What is actually mine to steward today? 2. 2. What is one thing you need to release this week?